Gears of War cost “only” $10 million

You have to have an engine already finished, and you have to outsource, but …

There is a lot of talk about how much it costs to develop games for the next-generation systems, but Mark Rein of Epic and Gears of War fame seems to think it needn't be that expensive to make a great game. Gears of War is the game that Microsoft is hoping gives them some breathing room when the PS3 is launched, and every report has painted the game as being amazing. How much does a game like that cost to make? Around $10 million. From Pro-G:

Rein acknowledged that $10 million is by no means cheap, "but didn't cost the crazy figures you hear other companies quoting of $20, $30 million." The budget does not include development costs of Epic's Unreal Engine 3, but this was not designed solely for Gears of War, plus the developer has saved money by outsourcing work to Epic Games China.

Use a good engine, and then outsource. Apparently those are the keys to getting an expensive-looking game without breaking the bank. Data on exactly how much games are costing is always interesting, and companies are always looking for ways to cut costs. I'd say the trend puts companies that own licenses like Unreal Engine 3 and the Source engine in a very good position. I'm not sure how coders feel about the work being outsourced, but since game development already goes on under sweatshop conditions, I wonder how much of a change it would actually entail.

We'll see if Epic got their money's worth when the game launches in November.